Cystic fibrosis is an incurable and multifaceted genetic disease. Leads to thickening of the secretions of most glands of external secretion. As a result, serious pathologies occur that affect the respiratory organs, digestive tract and reproductive functions. The disease is easy to diagnose even in a newborn, because in most civilized countries, a test for cystic fibrosis is a mandatory screening of newborns.
The name of the hereditary disease comes from the Latin language (mucus – “mucus”, sticky – “sticky”, which are characteristic symptoms of cystic fibrosis)
At this stage, no drugs have yet been found for this disease, but treatment is symptomatic, based on the clinical picture. Patients in developed countries live to be 40 years old.
Cystic fibrosis by EPAP
Cystic fibrosis is a serious disease. Patients can't cope. It is very important to feel the continued support of the public and the government.
The disease develops as a result of a mutation in the CFTR gene, which encodes a protein responsible for the transport of chlorine ions through the cell membrane. If the removal of negatively charged chlorine ions from the cell is delayed, the positively charged sodium ions end up here. Water gets into the cell, and the mucus that covers the inside of the lungs, intestines and digestive glands, becomes very sticky. This is the etiology of the development of the disease.
Causes of cystic fibrosis
The mucus blocks the airways, which can cause suffocation. It becomes a good medium for bacteria, so the patient can not get rid of the lung infection. Develops hypoxia, hypertension and “pulmonary heart”. The disease attacks the stomach and intestines, and the mucus leads to blockage of the pancreatic ducts.
Digestive enzymes do not enter the intestines in the required doses, so the nutrients are not normally absorbed. The body is emaciated, the patient is very weak, he is sick. Men suffering from this serious genetic disease are infertile.
The disease is hereditary and according to statistics in Europe, cystic fibrosis in newborns is diagnosed in one in two – two and a half thousand children. The cystic fibrosis gene is carried by every twentieth inhabitant of the planet. If two of them get married, in four cases the child will be born sick. According to statistics, representatives of the Caucasian race are more likely to suffer from this disease.
Symptoms of the disease are life-threatening
Forms of cystic fibrosis – The disease can manifest itself in different ways, depending on the changes in the internal organs, the development of complications, the age of the patient.
Experts distinguish the following characters:
• pulmonary cystic fibrosis;
* bowel shape;
* mixed, in which it attacks both the respiratory organs and the digestive system;
• a form of tar manifested by intestinal obstruction;
* atypical, in which certain endocrine glands are affected – swelling, anemia, cirrhosis, etc.
The division of the disease state into forms is very conditional, because in pathological changes in the lungs appear intestinal lesions and vice versa.